Personal profile

Research interests

David's research interests over recent years have focused on occupational therapy with people with intellectual disabilities (learning disabilities) and in particular those with complex needs, including profound intellectual and multiple disabilities. He is interested in how we can support and enable people with intellectual disabilities to engage in occupations and how occupational justice can be promoted, in particular through improving the quality of support provided to individuals.

David is interested in ethnographic and case study methodologies and in finding ethical means of involving those who may not have capacity as research participants in order that their needs may be researched and their support improved.

Scholarly biography

In 1992, David began working with adults with learning disabilities in North London, supporting people with moderate, severe and profound learning disabilities to make the transition from long-stay institutions to living in 'ordinary houses in ordinary streets'. This was an exciting time to begin a career in this field, being part of a then relatively new idea of 'care in the community' and working for an organisation that actively sought staff without a history of working in former institutions and who might support people in different and more empowering ways.

The experiences he had enabling people to engage in activity and to build relationships at home and in their local community led to a chance meeting with a Brighton student that made him aware of the existence of occupational therapy and its potential close connection with the work he had been doing as a support worker. He immediately applied for the University of Brighton PgDip Occupational Therapy course in Eastbourne.

David worked as an occupational therapist with people with learning disabilities for nine years, based in community teams in Sussex, Surrey and the London Borough of Wandsworth and then in the therapy team at St John's College in Brighton.

He joined the University of Brighton School of Health Sciences as a Senior Lecturer in 2006 and became the Course Leader of the part-time BSc (Hons) Occupational Therapy in 2012. He teaches on both this and the MSc Occupational Therapy (pre-registration) course. He became a Principal Lecturer in 2017 and took on the role of School of Health Sciences joint Apprenticeships Lead.

For four years, David was on the National Executive Committee of the College of Occupational Therapists Specialist Section – People with Learning Disabilities, becoming Research and Development and Education Lead. During this time, he completed a research study commissioned by the College with Alison Lillywhite, which explored occupational therapy and people with learning disabilities. This reawakened his interest in research and how this might improve the support provided to people with learning disabilities.

In 2015, he completed a PhD at University of Brighton in which he explored the ways an occupational therapist supported people with profound and multiple learning disabilities to engage in their occupations at home.

David joined the University of Brighton School of Health Sciences as a Senior Lecturer in 2006 and became the Course Leader of the part-time BSc (Hons) Occupational Therapy in 2012. He teaches on both this and the MSc Occupational Therapy (pre-registration) course. He became a Principal Lecturer in 2017 and took on the role of School of Health Sciences Apprenticeships Lead.

He was formerly Research and Development Lead and Education Lead on the National Executive Committee of the College of Occupational Therapists Specialist Section – People with Learning Disabilities and completed research with this specialist section into occupational therapy and people with learning disabilities.

In 2015, he completed research for a PhD exploring the ways an occupational therapist supported people with profound and multiple learning disabilities to engage in their occupations at home.

Approach to teaching

Problem-based learning is the approach to learning and teaching that is embedded across the occupational therapy programme at University of Brighton and this is underpinned by a clear pedagogy, including the work of former colleague Professor Gaynor Sadlo.

Teaching on our courses in this way is a perfect fit with the philosophy of the occupational therapy profession itself and gives David much the same satisfaction that he gained from working as an occupational therapist in practice. He really enjoys the highly interactive and very student-centred problem-based method and the way it allows him to work alongside students in small groups, exploring problems together and learning from each other. It is heartening to see students not only increasing subject knowledge, but also developing their critical reasoning, team working and independent learning skills.

Knowledge exchange

In June 2018 David began a project with the Royal College of Occupational Therapists Specialist Section - People with Learning Disabilities. An Evaluation Survey is being used to explore occupational therapists’ work with adults with profound and multiple learning disabilities and in particular, their use of "sensory activity”. The findings will inform a proposed 2019 research project and possible future resource to support practice of this type.

Education/Academic qualification

PhD, University of Brighton

9 Sep 2009 → 12 Oct 2015

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